Historical instructor

ROSS SWANEY

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 2.32/5 from 34 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

CBE 310
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Swaney is a grizzled vet of the chemical industry. Listen in and you will tap into the knowledge of decades of real experience. His lectures can get a little long winded and may lack examples, but this is made up for by his underlying passion. Get ready for a tough old fashioned chemical engineering course if he's teaching it.
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CBE 450
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
450 Swaney is very different from other classes; he's vert helpful in guiding the projects during office hours and has a lot of knowledge to share. However, old habits prevail: unorganized class, consistently behind schedule, doesn't know when his own exams are, and project info is scattered throughout 5-6 different PDFs. Overall, not bad.
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CBE 310
Quality 1/5Difficulty 1/5
Lectures are useless, no regard for other people's time, never provides direct answers.
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CBE 326
Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor Swaney can be very helpful. Study the homework and discussion problems for the exams.
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CBE 326
Quality 1/5Difficulty 5/5
No confidence that swaney can solve his own problems without the answerkey. Rambles on in lecture. Is not helpful in office hours. Homework's are inconsiderately long
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CBE 326
Quality 2/5Difficulty 4/5
Prof. Swaney is an example of an intelligent/experienced engineer failing to teach well. Lectures weren't organized, consistently showed up 5-10 minutes late, long-winded, and only covered homework-relevant content on the class period before it was due. However, generous curve. I recommend heavily utilizing the textbook and TA office hours.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with ROSS SWANEY

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2025CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2025CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2025CBE 310Chemical Process Thermodynamics
Spring 2025CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2024CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2024CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2024CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2024CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2023CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2023CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2023CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Spring 2023CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2022CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2022CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Spring 2022CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2022CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2021CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2021CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2020CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2020CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Spring 2020CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2020CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2019CBE 310Chemical Process Thermodynamics
Spring 2019CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2018CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2018CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2018CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2017CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2017CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Spring 2017CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Spring 2017CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2016CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2016CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2016CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2015CBE 426Mass Transfer Operations
Fall 2015CBE 599Special Problems
Spring 2015CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2015CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2014CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2014CBE 310Chemical Process Thermodynamics
Spring 2014CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2013CBE 255Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling
Fall 2013CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2013CBE 599Special Problems
Spring 2013CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2013CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2012CBE 255Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling
Spring 2012CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2011CBE 310Chemical Process Thermodynamics
Fall 2011CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Spring 2011CBE 255Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling
Spring 2011CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2010CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2010CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2010CBE 990Thesis-research
Spring 2010CBE 255Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling
Spring 2010CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Spring 2010CBE 990Thesis-research
Fall 2009CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2009CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2009CBE 990Thesis-research
Spring 2009CBE 255Introduction to Chemical Process Modeling
Spring 2009CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2009CBE 990Thesis-research
Fall 2008CBE 450Process Design
Fall 2008CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2008CBE 990Thesis-research
Spring 2008CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Spring 2008CBE 562Special Topics in Chemical Engineering
Spring 2008CBE 990Thesis-research
Fall 2007CBE 326Momentum and Heat Transfer Operations
Fall 2007CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2007CBE 990Thesis-research
Spring 2007CBE 450Process Design
Spring 2007CBE 990Thesis-research
Fall 2006CBE 470Process Dynamics and Control
Fall 2006CBE 990Thesis-research

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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